Finding the area of Kewaunee County once called San Sauveur
is indeed a challenge today. The settlement was one of many originating with
the Belgian immigrants to Kewaunee, Door and Brown Counties in the mid-1850s. The
largest concentration of Walloon immigrants came from the region around
Grez-Doiceau in Brabant, Belgium and settled in the tri-county area where, in
Kewaunee County, they founded such settlements as Walhain, Rosiere, Tonet,
Thiry Daems and San Sauveur. Populated by those named LeCaptain, Alberts,
Flavion, Ferron, DeGrave, Moens, Moreau, Fabry nd more, their descendants are
still found in Red River and throughout Kewaunee and Door Counties.
Door County historian Hjlamar Holand says the place was first
called St. Savior, however newspapers and other articles refer to the community
as San Sauver, San Savior. San Sauveir, San Sauvuer and perhaps others.
San Sauveur never had a “downtown” such as the nearby
hamlets of Lincoln and Thiry Daems, but if there would have been one, it surely
would have straddled the Lincoln-Red River town lines, the northwestern corner
of Section 19 and the southwestern corner of Section 13 of the towns,
respectively, the locations of a cheese factory and church.
Lincoln Farmers’ Cheese Factory was nearly on the town line
on its Red River side, about a half mile north of the tiny village of Lincoln,
from its founding in 1923 to closing in 1989 when it was affiliated with the
National Farmers Organization, or NFO. There was an earlier factory about which
little is known.
By 1925 Wisconsin cheese inspectors identified the newly
constructed Lincoln Farmers as a model factory. Whey was stored in tanks above
the boiler room ensuring there were no frozen pumps during the winter simply because
there were none. The plant’s 65 patrons were able to drive to a hose and thus
fill up without finding frozen whey in winter or flies in summer. And, dirt was
not a factor. Cheese makers Peter Sticka and William
Vlies lived with their families in on-site housing offered by the brick duplex
that matched the factory.
At the time, there were many who felt the high quality
cheese produced at the plant was a no-brainer. After all, its milk came from
some of the well-kept farms around. Henry LeCaptain, for instance, had a herd
of Holsteins in a stanchioned barn with a concrete floor. His cows had water in
easy reach. Besides that, LeCaptain had electricity. His brother Joseph
LeCaptain, who served as Red River town clerk, was another Holstein farmer.
Charlie Alberts was one on the cutting edge in his advocacy
for wooden silos, although not all agreed with him. He felt silage froze fast
in concrete silos while there were others who thought any kind of silo was bunk
and that contents were certain to be detrimental to cows. Charlie’s brother
Jule’s herd included Guernseys with the popular Holsteins. Jule even had
running water in the barn. Another Alberts – Moses – was known for his clean,
white, dustless, neat-as-a-pin barn with all the necessary cow equipment. His
farm was called one of Red River’s model farms. It boasted a concrete stable
with a mow above it, a stone hog building at the rear of the barn and a machine
shed with a blacksmith shop. Louis Moreau was another of the Holstein milkers.
William Flavion bought pure-bred Guernseys as the foundation
of his herd. Hubert DeGrave also raised Guernseys in his refurbished barn that
was complete with stanchions and water cups. Peter Moens lived across the road
and often worked in company with DeGrave. Emil Fabry’s farm was near San
Sauveur School. He and son William continued to grow the farm on the land
purchased in 1856 by Emil’s father. Fabry was another with a full set of
blacksmithing equipment.
Red River didn’t forget its children and in 1925 planned to
build a new school to replace the original San Sauveur School. The district
hoped to attach to nearby Lincoln and build a graded school, but that did not
happen and a new, rural one-room District #5 school was built. Years later, the
school even had a hot lunch program. District #5 children were offered
educational enrichment in bus trips to places such as Milwaukee, but that came
later.
San Sauveur pupils began attending Casco Graded School when some
grades were absorbed during the 1960s. That followed the selected grades’
absorption at both Fayette and Lincoln. With that
consolidation, San Suaveur School faded into history. Several years later both Red River and Lincoln were two of the Kewaunee County towns that joined in the creation of the Luxemburg-Casco School District.
Gospel of Truth Hall, also called both San
Sauvior and Lincoln Presbyterian Church, had its beginnings in 1920 as the
Plymouth Brethren Church on the corner of today’s Townline and Martin Roads.
What prompted the location of the church? Was it the proximity of the old
cheese factory and the possible location of a much older store? Or, was it
something else? There were Catholic churches in nearby Lincoln and Thiry Daems
Peter (Pierre Joseph) Houart was an early San Sauveur
businessman who had other interests in Red River, in Ahnapee,* and was also in
the lumbering and flouring business in Door Co. with George Bottkol of
Bottkolville.* Houart was born in Belgium and married Mary (Marie) Noel there
just before immigration. Mary’s brother, Amand Noel, joined Peter in a general
merchandise store that opened in 1860. The men operated their San Sauveur store
until 1881 when Houart bought out his brother-in-law.
Houart owned property in Sections 7 and 18 in the Town of
Lincoln. The 1876 Kewaunee County Plat Map shows Noels and Houarts owning much
of the western halves of both sections.
It shows additionally that Catherine Noel was the owner of the NE ¼ of
Section 24 in the Town of Red River, immediately to the west of what would
become church property years later. It seems logical that the store would have
been in Lincoln’s Section 18 because of property ownership, however “store”
does not appear in that area on the 1876 map.
Also fading into memory is the church, however the cemetery
remains as a testament to those who lived in the area. The cheese factory is
long gone but the rich farmland remains. San Sauveur Kermis isn’t like it was
when it was celebrated at Gigot’s Hall in Lincoln, but Belgian pie, cheese
curds, booyah and beer are still popular. Gigot’s hall has become history, but
Joe Rouer’s isn’t far.
Finding San Sauveur might be a challenge, but it is still
there.
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Notes: Wisconsin
Historical Collections gives St. Peter/St. Pierre in business with Mr. Noel. It
is most likely that St. Savior and Peter Houart were confused.
*Ahnapee was renamed Algoma in 1897 and Bottkolville was
renamed Euren, reflecting the Bottkols’ ancestral home near Trier, Germany.
Photos of the cows were found online from Hoard’s Dairymen.
Sources: Algoma
Record Herald; An-An-api-sebe: Where is
the River? c. 2001; Cox-Nell House
Histories, c. 2013; History of
Commercial Development in the Youngs and Steele Plat and Other Selected
Properties in Algoma , Wisconsin, c. 2006; History
of Door County, Wisconsin, The County Beautiful, Hjalmar
R. Holand, c. 1917; Wisconsin Historical
Collections, V 13; Wisconsin 1901-02 Gazetteer; Wisconsin: Its Story and Biography, c. 1914
